Chapter 108: Plum Blossoms 18 Second Update: Tingyan is Commander Jiang’s nickname…

Jiang Tingyuan is secretly investigating the dam, but he is not only investigating why the dam was destroyed, he also wants to catch the Ministry of Industry and make a secret visit to the place where materials are purchased.

Therefore, he did not come from the capital, but instead came back from a prefecture further south. Military men were fast on foot, so he had returned to Jiangnan Province in just seven days.

Jiang Tingyuan twisted his fingertips with a feeling of unsatisfied feeling. It had been seven days, and they had only just seen each other briefly. Thinking of this, he was shocked to realize that he had been separated from him for seven years, and a lingering fear came over him.

But...why did he ask Tingyan as soon as he heard about Yanzhou? Is it really that important?

Didn't I originally want to ask Jiang Tingyuan? As soon as I heard about Yanzhou, I forgot about him...

What's the meaning?

You have no conscience. Isn't it that you call your husband so sweetly? You turn your back on him and ask about someone else. If you don't want to be with someone, why do you have to miss him so much?

The expression on Jiang Tingyuan's face became more serious and calm, with a hint of gloom between his brows. The subordinates who were accompanying him were all nervous. Was this disguised investigation so difficult?

As soon as Song Yanze woke up, he smelled the aroma of butter pancakes. The aroma of sesame and onion mixed together with a warm scent. As soon as he smelled it, he knew it was a warm, soft and crispy pancake.

In this situation, he washed up in a daze while wearing his outer robe, and immediately sat at the table to eat. After swallowing, he subconsciously shouted: "Jiang Tingyuan you..."

After saying that, he came back to his senses, feeling a little sad and sad. Then he thought, it was only seven days, he seemed to be too clingy? But in Kyoto, it was Jiang Tingyuan who clung to him more...

"Master Xiao Song, the person you mentioned, Shi Yucheng, has arrived."

Song Yanze immediately put down the half cake in his hand and was about to go out.

"Mei Yuan, long time no see."

Shi Yucheng was wearing a lake blue silk dress and looked a little tired. He sat down and poured himself some tea without any formality.

"I set out on my way back after seeing your letter." Shi Yucheng drank a whole cup of tea before continuing to speak.

"I never thought that one day, a person like me who does not work properly could be of use to you."

Song Yanze knew him for a long time, so he didn't need to respond to his words and directly expressed his attitude: "I rely on you, brother."

As he spoke, he spread the map on the table. It was a detailed map of the three rivers, as well as the specific flooded areas and counties.

"The city of Huizhou is relatively fine, but the river in the city has risen sharply, and boats cannot pass through. Several streets have also been flooded. Your old lady has been busy getting rice and grain on her own to help resettle the victims every day. Everything is fine, but she is worried about you."

"Oh, yes. She asked me all kinds of questions, asking if there was a girl you liked. Let me remind you that if you like someone, you should propose marriage as soon as possible, and don't delay and miss the opportunity."

"You must not be a heartless person who makes promises easily and then doesn't keep them."

Shi Yucheng was writing and painting while he was talking like pouring beans. Song Yanze knew his habit, so he poured him some tea and just smiled as he listened to him.

"He's a different person than you think. I'll meet you when I have the chance."

Shi Yucheng looked at the map, pointed to two places and said to him in a deep voice: "When Dayu was controlling the flood, it was better to drain it than to block it."

The dam must be blocked, but the accumulated water can be drained away.

Fortunately, Jiangnan Province is close to the sea in the east, but the difficulty lies in thinking of a foolproof method and finding a suitable location.

At this time, Ji Bai, who had had a good rest, also came to visit Song Yanze. He was hesitant and didn't know what Song Yanze's attitude towards him would be, but he didn't expect Song Yanze to ask him to sit down and discuss matters together, and even poured him a cup of tea.

"It is better to drain than to block, but we also need to find a way to divert the water to the vicinity of the estuary, and we also need to consider the terrain and farmland in the prefectures and counties."

Shi Yucheng was muttering to himself, but Ji Bai's eyes lit up when he heard it and he suddenly interrupted him.

"Excavating the old river channel is the quickest way..."

The two of them chatted back and forth and hit it off immediately. They almost forgot about Song Yanze in their discussion.

In the end, the two of them actually drew a route and decided to check the old river channel first.

Song Yanze's opinion of Ji Baizhen has changed. Although he is a scholar in the study, he is not a sour Confucian scholar. He is just a little honest and straightforward, and is not very sensitive to cases and official documents.

"I'll leave this matter to you two. Jiangnan Province's flood disaster is entirely dependent on you two."

Ji Bai hesitated and reminded him: "Dredging the river and releasing water will inevitably flood some fields and cause the water level downstream to rise sharply."

“It’s not easy to coordinate across jurisdictions.”

However, if the river channel is not dredged to release floodwater, heavy rains will continue upstream, and the levees will continue to leak water, the downstream areas will be flooded sooner or later. By then, it will not only be the riverside areas that will be flooded, but the entire county.

Everyone understands this truth, but unless a disaster really strikes, no county magistrate would want to bother with this matter.

Song Yanze frowned and thought for a while, then said to them calmly: "Just do it, come up with specific rules and detailed routes, including how to actually do it."

"Master Ji, there are so many things going on right now, and the affairs are complicated and various forces are entrenched. If you want to do something practical, why not cooperate and do what you are good at, and leave the rest to me."

"I will be responsible for stabilizing rice and grain prices, providing disaster relief and epidemic prevention, and preventing land annexation."

Ji Bai breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but laugh at himself and looked at Song Yanze.

"Compared to Master Xiao Song, I am far behind."

Song Yanze smiled, but didn't think so. After three years as a Hanlin scholar and four years as a local official, he had much more experience and knowledge than Ji Bai who was caught and about to be abandoned.

At least he had a heart to do practical things and didn't think about party struggles. This was much better than others and made him feel relieved.

"You are very good. Ten of you can't do what I have done."

After saying this, he was stunned for a moment. Did Jiang Tingyuan cut off a part of himself and merge it into his body?

Ji Bai felt energized by these words. Shi Yucheng looked at his younger brother, who used to be unable to speak nicely, with a teasing look and smiled knowingly.

It’s different when you have a lover, you can say soft words.

Song Yanze still wanted to look at the files, but when he arrived at the Nian Si Yamen, he found that there was not a single soldier inside or outside the Yamen, and Qiu Yi was nowhere to be seen either.

He immediately went to the governor's office to find Fang Yifeng.

Fang Yifeng didn't seem surprised that he came, and even laid out all the account books and records in advance. Song Yanze asked about the current situation in each prefecture and state, and he answered them clearly.

"The rice allocated by the court is enough for half a month. The silver is mainly used to resettle the victims, buy anti-epidemic medicines, and repair the dams."

"We have sent official letters to other places to borrow grain, but they are all in the process of collecting grain, so it won't reach the three disaster-stricken states for a while."

Song Yanze became more and more confused. Fang Yifeng's attitude was very contradictory. On the one hand, he let it go, but on the other hand, he was well aware of the disaster situation in various places and various measures were quickly put in place.

On the one hand, he mingled with Qiu Yi and obeyed Governor Yu Ying, and on the other hand, he tried his best to delay the matters they had assigned him until he arrived.

Yes, before Song Yanze came here, the only person who could hug the victims in the prison was Fang Yifeng.

"Master Fang, are you aware of the fact that granaries are not storing grain and raising grain prices? There are also cases where landlords are forcing farmers to sell their land at a low price?"

"It doesn't matter whether you know it or not." Fang Yifeng's face was numb and cold, and his lips were pale. "The important thing is that I can't do anything."

Song Yanze's fingers curled up as he flipped through the documents, and pretended not to understand and asked him back, "You are the governor of the provincial government, so you can't do anything?"

Fang Yifeng closed his eyes and sat in his seat, taking a deep breath: "I am untalented and incompetent."

Song Yanze snapped the account book shut, looked at Fang Yifeng and laughed, "One day, I will hear Fang Yifeng say 'powerless'."

"Fang Yifeng!" Song Yanze slapped the table, stood up and looked into his eyes.

"Establish a mind for the world, and a life for the people. Isn't that what you always say?"

"You can be powerless at any time, but now that you can't retreat, Fang Yifeng, what do you want to do?"

"You saved fifteen people from the prison and resettled the disaster victims immediately. It's not that you didn't want to do it, it's that you didn't dare to do it."

Fang Yifeng suddenly let out a long sigh of relief and laughed. This person whom he had always hated since he was a teenager was actually the one who believed in him the most and saw through him at a glance.

"Yes, I don't dare."

"You are a clean official, a confiscating imperial censor, and Lord Song who came alone to clean up the Ministry of Revenue. What about me? I am a disciple of Li Heng, a chess piece in the party struggle nailed here, unable to move a step, and unable to break the situation."

Song Yanze wanted to pull him, but it seemed that he was doomed to fail today.

"I have a child, a girl, very cute."

Song Yanze paused as he was leaving, suddenly realizing something, and let out a long sigh with his back to him.

"Congratulations."

When he was about to leave the lobby, Fang Yifeng suddenly said to him, "Zhaojia Village."

"Someone just reported that some unruly people in Zhaojia Village stole the disaster relief grain from the imperial court."

Song Yanze was shocked when he thought of the empty Neisi Yamen. He said thank you and walked out quickly.

He said to Xuan Qing in a deep voice: "I'm afraid something might happen in Zhaojia Village. I have to go there."

Xuan Qing insisted on following him without saying a word. Song Yanze originally wanted to arrange for him to stay here, but then he thought of Jiang Tingyuan and said nothing more.

"You really do obey the orders of your commander Jiang."

Xuan Qing just said in a deep voice: "He is the lifesaver of our whole family."

Song Yanze had heard that the border of Yanzhou was often invaded by foreign tribes and was a dangerous place. He thought of Tingyan again and asked him about it.

This time Xuan Qing still looked puzzled. He asked Song Yanze the same question again and again and confirmed the two words.

At this time, the horses' hooves were galloping on the path, and a light drizzle began to fall. Song Yanze had an inexplicable premonition in his heart that he would hear news about Brother Xiaoyan.

From a distance they could see two groups of people confronting each other not far away. The most conspicuous among them was a tall, long-legged man with a scar and a beard, dressed like a bodyguard.

Song Yanze frowned subconsciously, feeling that the person looked familiar.

Xuan Qing in my ear had already spoken hesitantly.

"Tingyan...isn't he Commander Jiang?"

Song Yanze felt that he had heard wrongly, his heart choked, he stopped and turned to look at Xuan Qing.

"What? What did you say?"

"Tingyan is Commander Jiang's nickname. I'm not sure if she came with you from Yanzhou, but..."

"Tingyan is Commander Jiang, and Commander Jiang is Tingyan."

Song Yanze repeated subconsciously: "Small characters? Is it his small characters?"

Jiang Tingyuan? You...

Before Song Yanze could react, a conflict had already broken out in front of him. The leading man knocked down several people from the Neisi Yamen who rushed over with one hand.

"Bold and unruly people!"

Song Yanze took a few deep breaths to stop himself from being distracted, and gritted his teeth secretly. Jiang Tingyuan, you're done.

The man was not afraid at all and touched his waist. Song Yanze thought he was going to draw his sword, so he shouted loudly.

"Stop it!"

He was naturally wearing an official uniform, and he immediately shocked the crowd. He glanced at the officers and soldiers who had detained women, children and young kids.

"I am the governor appointed by the emperor. Who asked you to arrest me?"

Several officers and soldiers immediately let go, and the woman immediately hugged her child tightly and hid back.

Song Yanze was dealing with several leaders of the Niaosi Yamen. When he turned around, he was met with a pair of black eyes.

The man was tall and had long legs. He was well-built, dressed like a bodyguard. He had a sword on his waist, a long scar on his cheek, and a slightly long beard.

He lowered his eyes and stared at Song Yanze, and had already put down his hand that was on his waist.

Song Yanze was sure that he had never seen such a person before, but he always felt that there was something wrong with him and that he looked familiar, so he hesitated and withdrew his gaze.

"Since you said it was Lord Qiu who gave the order, then let Lord Qiu come and tell me in person. I am here and no one can be taken away today."

Their reason was to steal the relief grain from the government, but there was no grain here. There was only a hole in the damaged barn in the village not far away, and all the rice flowed out.

"Also, go back and tell your Lord Qiu that I'm still waiting to see his files and documents."

After they left, someone knelt down and called out, "Master Xiao Song!"

Song Yanze comforted them one by one, asked about their situation, and told them about the situation of their family members in prison.

As he walked around, the man kept following him, but Xuan Qing seemed indifferent.

Song Yanze helped an old woman up and bumped into the man when he turned around.

"Master Xiao Song."

His voice was a little rough, and his eyes were smiling. Song Yanze stared at his eyes for a long time, raised his eyebrows, and lowered his eyes as if thinking for a moment.

"May I ask your name? You look familiar to me."

The man smiled and said in a rough voice: "My name is Tingyan."

After saying that, he stared at his face, but Song Yanze just said "oh" calmly, but his hands under his sleeves were clenched tightly.

"I didn't hear clearly, what's your name?"

"Tingyan."

"Okay, okay, okay." Song Yanze gritted his teeth and smiled, saying three "okay" words in a row.